Coach Briles Sues for Defamation

Coach Art Briles has filed suit against Baylor University. He filed suit for libel, saying Baylor is spreading false allegations that he knew of sexual assaults and did not report them. See Dallas Morning Newsreport. “Libel” refers to defaming someone verbally. Slander refers to defaming someone in writing. Baylor has been very careful about what it says about Coach Briles. There have been a few stories just recently that Coach Briles was aware of an alleged gang rape incident and did not report it to Baylor authorities. See SB nation report. Coach Briles claims that what Baylor is saying about him is keeping him from finding a new coaching position. He was just recently overlooked for an open head coaching job at the University of Houston, He had formerly coached at U of H before he started working for Baylor.

The sad truth is that defamation claims in Texas are very difficult for the plaintiff. What an employer says about an employee is accorded extra protection in Texas. The employer receives a qualified privilege when it discusses an employee or former employee. That means Coach Briles would have to show Baylor acted with actual malice when it said those things about the coach. To show malice, the plaintiff must show the employer knew or should have known what it said was false and that it did so with intent to cause harm. Simply showing an employer knew something was false, as opposed to simple mistake, is a very high obstacle. But, to also show the employer made that false statement with the intent to cause harm is huge. Unless Coach Briles has an inside witness who can attest that the Baylor spokesperson wanted to be sure Coach Briles never worked again, the coach will lose his defamation lawsuit.

That is why lawsuits alleging defamation in the work place are so rare. Who would ever have that sort of evidence? Many clients have asked me about suing their former employer for something the employer has said. Yes, many employers do defame former employees. But, unless the law changes, those sorts of lawsuits will remain exceedingly rare.